An advocate in India can practice in any courts of India. We have three types of judicial courts i.e. district court, high court and Supreme Court. If you want to practice in Income tax laws or service tax or any other tax laws then instead of district court you are required to practice in lower courts as set up under that act. Where ever you practice following procedures will be same to get started.
First thing that you required before starting your law firm is be at least 21 years old and a law degree (LLB) from any university of India or foreign university as recognized by the Bar council of India.
Every state has a Bar Council. After getting a degree, you need to register yourself with any of the State Bar Council in India.
You have option of establishing either a proprietorship or partnership firm. Both type of establishment has their own pros and cons.
In a partnership firm, along with other partners you can diversify your area of expertise and have more clients who require all type of services under one roof. In proprietorship, you will have flexibility of having your own area of practice and can take lead role on all those areas that you want to deal with. We suggest you to be certain about your practice areas before you start.
After setting up your proprietorship or partnership firm, you need to develop your client base. You can develop a team of chartered accountant, company secretaries and cost accountants to fulfill different requirements of your clients. This way, you can also develop a better client based as the CA, CS or CMA will also have requirements of advocates.
To let people know you, we suggest writing different articles on the area of your expertise and get published it online or in any law journal.
A Law Firm office can be set up nearer to the court or in a commercial building where clients can come and go easily. It all depends on your client’s requirement. Initially, you can start with a small decent office.
We suggest developing a website with following information in it. Customers looking for lawyer don’t use phone-books, they use Google.
- Name of your Law Firm
- Address, office telephone number and email ID to contact
- Qualification
- Area of expertise and practice
- Enrollment number and date of enrollment with State Bar Council
We also suggest you to check your rules and regulations before developing website as there are certain restrictions on law firm relating to advertisement. Good Luck !